AN: Do people still do disclaimer notes? I'd think it would be obvious, but nothing Rick Riordan has written or published belongs to me, nor does any of the music I've cited using a format that's probably out of date now.

Silena smoothed her hair for the millionth time, gazing in the mirror.

"You're good enough," she said, gazing at her full figure. "He chose you. There are a hundred celebrities he could have chosen, and he chose you."

A deep breath later, she had grabbed her purse and stilettos and was out the door. The cab ride was less than glamorous, but it was better than walking or taking the subway. She stepped in the door, and he was there, offering his hand, in a well-ironed green suit.

She took it, and the rest of the evening passed in a blur. She might have had one too many glasses of champagne, but it kept the stories flowing. They laughed and joked, and their waiter, whose leopard-print tie somehow managed to look sharp despite its boldness, interjected only when he was needed.

Beckendorf drove her home. He'd only had a few drinks. She barely remembered him carrying her up the stairs. She did remember that he didn't stay, which worried her until she saw the text from him the next morning.

Enjoyed last night, didn't want to keep you up. You pick next time. It was signed with a heart.

"And a gentleman, too," she said, feeling a twinge of regret in her gut. She would almost have preferred if he had stayed the night.

Reyna hummed to herself, a melody she'd been working on for weeks. She hadn't mentioned anything about it to Jason, thank the gods. This was her project now.

She tested a series of sounds on her piano, but nothing seemed to fit. Guitar, strings, even glass pipes… Frustrated, she sang the melody as she had first envisioned it, with a little dm-dm sound to her voice, like an a cappella singer...

That was it. A cappella. She didn't need an instrument, especially not an instrument that Jason would have played. She pulled out a piece of note paper and wrote down the words as they came to her.

Used to be a baby, used to be a lady

Thought you were the perfect lover

All the harmony went falling out of key

Now I've gotta find another.

Now you're talking crazy, saying that you made me,

Like I was your Cinderella

You and me are through, though; I can hit it solo

Watch me do it a cappella

[Karmin. "Acapella." Pulse. 2014.]

"Brilliant," she said, a vengeful grin spreading across her face. She didn't need Jason, not anymore. There was only one man she needed, a childhood friend she dearly trusted. He'd done soundtrack design for years; he knew the music business, even if he was the sort of nerd who played Mythomagic on weekends. Now if only she could convince him…

She dialed his number quickly. He picked up on the second ring. He knew better than to leave her hanging.

"Hey, Rey," he addressed her. He'd called her that ever since the new Star Wars movies had come out. She liked the comparison, though she'd never publicly admit it.

"Hey, Hank. Listen, can you help me out with something?"

Annabeth sat with her feet propped up on the coffee table, shuffling through blueprints she'd sketched and labeled in high school. That had been a simpler time. If she hadn't made it big, she'd probably be studying architecture right now. That was where her mom wanted her to be, for sure.

"The latest in music news," the radio beside her said in a peppy male voice. "The emo pop-metal group Planet of Angels has announced its intention to cover Aerosmith's Dream On. Lead singer Nico di Angelo said it's always been a goal of his. It will be released with their next album. Golden Eagle, made up of Jason Grace and Reyna Ramirez, has split up, but Reyna shows no fuss about leaving Jason in the dust. She's hard at work on a new EP. And speaking of Jason Grace, his sister Thalia, under the name Electra Grace, is taking the music world by storm with an experimental song that combines elements of punk rock, pop, and nightcore. Titled 'Like a Star,' the audio track has over a million views on YouTube. This has been music news with Lee Fletcher."

The radio faded back to music from commercials, and with a shock, Annabeth realized the song was Thalia's. She couldn't help but grin.

"Kill 'em, girl," she said, raising a cheering fist.

Her phone buzzed quietly, and she glanced down. It was from Will.

You were a fan of Poseidon's music as a kid, yeah?

Yeah, she replied, then ?.

Turns out he's a fan of yours. Wants to record a song together.

For real?

For real. I told him I'd figure out your free time.

Anytime really, except girls' night out with Thalia next Friday.

Gotcha.

Annabeth set down the phone, and realized her hands were shaking. Poseidon had been the artist who inspired her to start making music. Her father had always been supportive of her dream, but her mother had all but cut her off once she started looking at music schools.

And she was going to record a song with her childhood idol.

Bianca's fingers flew over the frets. It was a tough song, but she'd taught herself to play listening to Metallica. This was nothing.

Her brother wasn't so put together today, though. His hair was oddly ruffled, and she was fairly sure he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, meaning he'd slept in them.

"You okay?" she wondered, as he tried and failed for the seventieth time to match pitch. "You seem to be having a tough time."

"I'm fine," he said moodily.

"You don't look fine. And you sure as Hades don't sound fine."

He glanced at her, then at the unoccupied drumset, and at Ethan's bass on its stand, making sure they were alone. "I should know better than to lie to you. It's this… this Electra Grace. I can't get that damn song out of my head."

"No one can," Bianca said knowingly, playing the opening riff.

Nico held up a hand. "Stop. You're making it worse."

With a sigh, she unslung the guitar. "I know you have this deep, profound hatred for mainstream pop, Nico. We all do inside. We're about to blow their minds."

"It's not that," he said, wandering over to a rack of other instruments, picking up a violin, playing the melody of Like a Star thoughtfully. "It's not a bad song. Actually, I really like it. I like the rhythm, the instrumentation. And, gods be damned, I like the singer. She's cute." He didn't bother to let the violin down; it wobbled under his chin as he spoke. He was facing away from her, but Bianca knew her brother's face was beet red.

"It's alright to have crushes," she said knowingly. "You and Zoe were giving me shit about Will the other day. I'm over him. He's over me. Said I wasn't his type. But sometimes they work out. Look at Hazel. She's not letting fame get in the way of her relationship."

Nico snorted at the mention of their younger cousin, the pianist for Diamond. "Maybe not. But she has exceedingly poor taste in music nonetheless."

Bianca grinned at him wolfishly. "See, there's the snarky brother I'm used to." She snatched the bow from his hands. "Put that thing down and sing, fool. We've got some charts to top."

"So she dumped you," Piper said, checking her makeup in the reflection of the phone screen. "What does that do but make this a million times easier?"

"It's already all over the tabloids," Jason said, slapping one down on the table. "She got to them first. Told them I was cheating."

Leo punched him in the shoulder. "Look, hermano, we Latinos can be extra when it comes to throwing blame, but she'll cool off in two days or so. She'll write a breakup song, make lots of money, and move on."

"She already has," Hazel said, waving her own phone. "Released it on Amazon this morning, with other stores following quickly. When did she even break it off? Last week?"

"Two days ago," Piper said. She'd always been far better than Hazel at keeping track of who was with who. "Over lunch. Annabeth was there too, and Thalia. P.S., Jason, heard your sister's finally making a name for herself."

"Yeah," he said, running a hand through his golden hair. Piper unapologetically watched his muscles rippling underneath his purple shirt. "I suppose I'd better keep up. Maybe I was cheating, because I'd rather not have a bitch for a girlfriend. How does this breakup game work?" He folded his arms and leaned across the table, coming face to face with Piper. "You're the expert."

Piper snorted. "I don't care what Hazel thinks, I'm no love expert."

Hazel crossed her legs and lifted her bedazzled phone, tapping away at a text or a game. "You're an expert compared to me, that's all."

"Hey, you're the one who pulled off the gods-damn miracle of dating a non-celebrity."

"Frank and I have been dating since high school," she said. "So I don't think that's really fair. Teach him to break up, love expert. Gods know he needs more help than most."

Piper smirked and lifted her phone. "Do as the cruel do. Make it Twitter official."

"That's so unfair."

Alex tapped his magenta nails together. "I wasn't going to sow any chaos over it, not after Christer compared me to Loki. I wasn't about to give him a leg up on you. It's not good to surround yourself with toxic people."

The guy sitting across the table to her, a Kurt Cobain doppelganger down to the double denim, shrugged and bit into his falafel. "Well, I guess if they're giving you the boot, I'm out too."

Alex tilted his head. "You're the lead guitarist, man. I'm just your backup. If you ditch them, it all falls apart."

"Good thing we're not on the pop scene," Double Denim said with a smirk. "Imagine the headlines. 'Sound of Thunder breaks up over secret affair involving genderfluid guitarist'."

"Hey, you got some headlines last year," Alex said, pointing at Double Denim's chest. "When there were rumors you'd been killed. And the conspiracies. 'Is Magnus Chase Really Just Kurt Cobain's Clone?'"

Magnus snorted. "My personal favorite was the one where I was a reincarnation of Baldur."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Well that one was dumb. Baldur must have been a pretty lame dude, if his mom had to ask everything in the world not to hurt him."

"So are you saying you don't think I'm lame?"

An appraising glance later, Alex shook his head. "Nope. I'm saying you're even lamer."

"See," Magnus said, wiping his fingers, "this is why I have to stick with you. No one else deflates my ego like you."

Alex stood and took a mocking bow.

"You know," Magnus said, sliding his chair out, "we could form our own group."

"But the scandal," Alex said, arching his eyebrows high enough that it was obvious that he wasn't really all that concerned."

"We don't have to do it here," Magnus emphasized. "I'm honestly tired of Europe anyway. America could use a real metal group or two. What do you think? Back to Boston? Sam's almost got her master's degree."

"You can't just give Boston a Viking metal scene."

"I can try."